Balancing vehicle.



G. L. DAUGHERTY. BALANGING VBHIGLE.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 6, 1907. j 960,838. M Patented June 7,71910.

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WITNESSE5: `INVENT-R.

WW M. i' m-ifton augher/ ATTORNEY.V

C. Lf DAUGHERTY.

' BALANGING VEHICLE.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT.5, 1907.

f Patented June 7,1910.

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I N VEN TOR.

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7F74/ M BY A TTORN E Y.

C. L. DAUGHBRTY,

BALANGVING VEHICLE. APPLIOATION FILED SEPT. 5, 1907. i

9605838. y Patented June 7, 191,0. 4 SHEETS-'SHEET 3.

WITNESSES.- 1N VENTOR.

ATTORNEY.

'as ATENT ormon- CLIFTON L. DAUGHEBTY, 0F INDIANAPOLIS, INDIAA.

BALANGING VEHICLE.

ecosse.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed September 5, 1907. Serial No. 391,508.

To all whom it may concern: Y

Be it known that CLIF'roN L. DAUGH- ERTY, of Indianapolis,` county of Marion, and State of Indiana, have invented a certain new and useful -Balancin Vehicle; and I do hereby declare that the ollowing is a full, clear, and exact description thereof,

reference being had to the accompanying .f

drawings, in which like numeralsrefer to like parts.

The object of this invention is to construct a vehicle sothat it'can run on only one s`eries of wheels arranged tandem. Thus a railway car, street car or other car that is as for railway cars and the like. rlhis object is accomplished by providing a vehicle with means for automatically balanc- .in and maintaining the equilibrium of the ve icle on one tandem series of wheels centrallylocated beneath it, whether the vehicle be moving, turning a curve or standing still. Whether the vehicle be moving at a certain speed or moving at all is immaterial to the operation and success of 'the balancing mechanism, as said mechanism balances the vehicle as long as the balancing mechanismV is driven and it can be driven while the vehicle is standing still.

The chief feature of the invention conhicle one or more sets of two ily-wheels each revolving in opposite directions at a hi h rate of speed. It is well known that` a ywheel or other wheel when driven at high centrifugal speed will tend to maintain thc position of the parts on which it is mounted in, statu Quo. Thus a spinning top will maintain its vertical position when revolving at a high speed. It is not material whether the balancing wheels be arranged to operate vertically or horizontally. The cas'- in in which said wheels are mounted and driven at a high speed can be maintained automatically in any desired position, that is, vertically or horizontally or at an Patented J une 7, 1910.

inclination. When this principle is applied to the balancing of Vehicles 'supported on Wheels arranged tandem, only two things are necessary, namely, that the balance wheels are suiciently heavy relativeto the weight of the vehicle and secondly, that they be driven at a sufliciently hi h rate of speed.

In connection with the oregoing, another feature of my invention consists in providing means for bracing the vehicle and holding it upright in case ot' accident or stoppage of the operation of the automatic balancing mechanism. On each side of the vehicle vertically movable braces or supports are mounted, as here shown, in air cylinders and are actuated by compressed air so that all of the braces on the vehicle may be controlled by a single means and at a single point and such compressed air will not only force the braces down into the bracing position but Will move them up to their inoperative position and in either position the braces will be locked in place, and air controlled means are provided for releasing the lock. Furthermore, means are provided for showing whether the braces are in their locked position, either when elevated or when lowered.

The general nature of this invention will be understood from the accompanying drawings and the following description and claims.

In the drawings Figure 1 is a side elevation of one-half of a railway car equi )pcd with my invent-ion, the balancing meclhan ism being in vertical section. F xg. 2 isan cnd elevation of the car on a track. Fig. 3 is a horizontal section on the line 3 3 of Fignl. Fig. 4 is a vertical transverse scction on the line 4 4: of Fig. 1. Fig. 5 is a `side elevation of an automobile equipped with my invention. Fig. 6 is an end elevation thereof, Fig. 7 is a vertical transverse section on the line 7 7 of Fig. 5, showing a modified form of thebalancing mechanism as compared to that shown in the tirst four figures. Fig. 8 isla side elevation of one-half of a car with the side of the car partly broken away to show a brace in place, the brace being shown in its elevated position by full lines and in its lowered position by dotted lines. Fig. 9 is an end elevation of the car with one side thereof partly broken away and showing the braces in Vtheir downmost and bracing position. Fig. 10 is a central vertical section through the bracing mechanism on an enlarged scale, showing the brace up. Fig. 11 is the same showing the braces down. Fig. 12 is a diagrannnatic view of the piping and wiring system in the car for cont-rolling the operation of the braces. through a contact point and adjacent parts. Fig. 14 is a horizontal section through a cylinder` and brace looking downward upon the shoe and omitting other parts.

Referring now to the details of the drawings, the railway car 10 is not guided by a double series of wheels as usual but the wheels 1l are arranged one behind the other tandem so as to ride upon only one rail 12. 13 represents the cross-ties. This rail should have a well rounded head and the wheels 11 should be well flanged on'both sides with the tread portion semicircular in cross-section to fit u on the curved head of the rail. The whee s are mounted centrally beneath the car on the trucks 14, which are made of ordinary form and mounted in connection with the car in the ordinary way. Of course,.the number of wheels mounted tandem under the vehicle can be modified to suit the vehicle. 4

In connection with the body of the car and preferably under the same I secure a casing 15 inwhich a motor 16 is mounted that is driven by electricity from any source of supply carried by the vehicle or conveyed thereto through a. trolley. mechanism, if desired. The motor 1G has a shaft 17 mounted in the bearing 18 and carrying on its end the bevel gear 19 that meshes with the bevel gear 20 on the vertical shaft 21 that is mounted in the bearings on the bottom of the casing 15 and the bottom of the car 10. The vertical shaft 2O carries a gear 21 that meshes with pinions 22 on the vertical shaft 23 that are likewise mounted in bearings on the bottom of the casing and car. The shaft 23 carries a heavy {1y-wheel or balancing wheel 25 arranged horizontally.' The gearing, as shown in Fig. 3, is such as to greatly multiply the speed of the fly-wheel 25 'as compared with the motor shaft 17 or any intermediate part. As high speedl has much to do with the efficiency of the device, thel bearings for the shafts are preferably as free from friction as possible, the lower bearings 26 furnishing the concave bearing .surface for the rounded lower ends of the shafts and the upper vbearings 27 being preferably ball bearings.

Figs. 5, 6 and 7 show a modified form of the balancing mechanism and also the appli# cation of the invention 'to automobiles. The

i bottom of the automobile 30 is carried upon a pair of wheels 31 arranged tandem and may be otherwise mounted in the usual way.

Beneath the car there is a casing 32 carry-v ing an electric motor like that\ shown in Fig. 3 and the fly-Wheels 33 and 34 are ver- Fig. 13 1s a section.`

lthem to operate. The tendency of the flywheels when revolved at a high speed will be to maintain upright the entire car as long as the balancing mechanism is kept in operation. Tl'lerezfore, the balancing mechanism should be operable independent of the traveling mechanism so that the balancing mechanism can continue to operate while the car is standing still in order to maintain its balance. I provide a bracing mechanism for supporting the vehicle or car when the balancing mechanism is not in operation, as in casev of accident or the stoppage thereof for any other reason. This mechanism appears more fully in Figs. 9 to 12. In each side-of the car near each end a bracing mechanism is mounted, so that in a car there would be four of them, all alike. The brace 130 is a heavy bar pivotally mounted in the middle of a shoe 131 at the lowest end, the upper end of the brace projecting into and operating vertically in a. cylinder 132 that is built within the car. The brace extends through the floor ofthe car. Springs 134 connect the ends of the shoe with the opposite sides of the brace so as to hold the shoe horizontally and permit it to conform to irregularities in the surface of the ground. The upper end of the brace is enlarged at 135 so as to form practically a piston. Air is introduced through the pipe 136 in the upper end of the cylinder for forcing the braces downward and air is introduced through the pipe 37 at' the lower end of the cylinder for raising the braces. In the lower end of the cylinder there is a coiled spring 38 to check the downward thrust of the brace. When in its uppermost position the brace is locked by the spring-actuated plug 39 which is secured at the bottom of the cylinder and projects into the recess 4Q near thelower end of the brace. The same plug locks the brace in its downward position by entering the recess or hole 41 near the upper end ofthe brace. The locking plug 39 is withdrawn by the lever 43 that is fulcrumed at 44 to the side of the cylinder and is actuated by the piston rod 45 in the auxiliary cylinder 46 to which the compressed air is admitted through the pipe 47. Spring 44 in cylinder46 actuates the plug 39. v

The car is provided witha compressed air tank 50 from which a pipe 51 conveys the air to acontroller 52, used for lowering the braces, and through a branch pipe 53 to a controller 54, used for elevatingthe braces.

- cated as to ybe convenient to o from the braces and thereafter, by further heee controllers 52 and 54 are'in the case f street cars, located Ain the motormans compartment, and in other vehicles so' lorate. The controllers are substantially tie. same in character and construction as those employed in air brake systems on cars. controllers a pipe 47 leads to the auxiliary pistons 46. From the controllerv 52 the pipe 36 leads to the upper ends of thefcylinders 132 and from the controller 54 the pipes 37 lead to the lower ends of the cylinders. The pipes 47 should lead from the controllers at points in advance of the pipes 36 and 37 so that in operating the controllers the compressed air will first disengage the plugs 39 operation of the controller, will elevate or lower the brace. Pipes 36,37 and 47 run to all the brace mechanisms on the car so that they are all simultaneously operated in the same way.

ln order that the motorman or vehicle drivel' may know that all" the braces are locked in their elevatedor lowered positions, an electrical indicating mechanism is provided, as shown in Fig. '12. Thus the indicator 60 has indicating hands 160 for each brace mechanism on the car and from each indicating 'hand a Wire 61 leads to the contact (i2-in the upper part of a' .cylinder 132. A contact 63 in the cylinder-oppositely located is connected with the indicatinglinger by a .return wire 64. The two contacts "62 and 63v project through the wall of the cylinder far enough to be engaged by the head g 135 of the brace andv thereby the circuit is closed when the brace is up. A similar circuit runs to all .the otherbrace mechanisms. Likewise, an indicator 70 .is provided to show when the braces are locked down. A

wire 71 runs-therefrom to the upper end of the lever 43 that is connected with the plug 39 and that with the braces 130. From the contact plug72 agwire 73 leads back to the indicator so as to'complete the circuit when the brace .is down as then the head 135 isA in contact with the plug 72. The wiring for all the other braces from this indicator 70 is the same as that just described.

What I claim as my invention and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. The combination with a vehicle, a series of transporting wheels arranged tandem centrally under said vehicle, means for automatically balancing` the vehicle, braces adapted to hold 'the vehicle upright when the balancing mechanism is not in operation, said braces being mounted in the car so as to be vertically reciprocable, a shoe on the lower end of each brace pivotally mounted between its ends, and yielding means for normally holding thev shoe in horizontal posi- 2. The combination with a vehicle, a series From both centrally under said'vehicle, means for-automatically balancing the vehicle, braces adapted to hold the vehicle upright when the balancing'mechanismv is not in operation, said ybraces being mounted in the car lof transporting wheels arranged' tandem so as to be vertically reciprocable, a shoe on 4centrally undei` said vehicle, means for authe vehicle, braces tomatically balancin vertically reciprocab e in the vehicle for holding the same when the balancin mechanism is not in operation, vertica ly disposed cylinders in the vehicle in which said braces are reciprocably mounted, and pneu- `matic means for eleva-ting and lowering said braces'.

v5. The combination with a vehicle, a series of transporting wheels arranged tandem centrally under said vehicle, means for automatically balancing the vehicle, braces vertically reciprocable in the vehicle for holding' the same when the balancing mech-'- anism is not in operation, vertically disosed cylinders inthe vehicle in which said races are .reciprocably mounted, pneumatic means for lelevating and lowering said braces, springactuated means for locking the braces in their elevated and lowered positions, and.k pneumatic means for releasing. saidlocking means.

6. The combination with a vehicle, a series of transporting wheels arranged tandem centrally under said vehicle, means for automatically balancing the vehicle, braces vertically reciprocabe in-v the vehicle for holding the same when the balancing mechanism is not in operation, means for locking said/braces in their elevated and lowered positions, and means for indicating whether each of said braces is locked in its upper or lower position.

vsaid, braces in their elevated and 7. The combination with a vehicle, aseries of transporting wheels arranged tandem centrally under said vehicle, means for automatically `balancin the vehicle, braces vertically reciprocab e in the vehicle for holding the same when thebalancino mechanism is not in operation, vertically disposed cylinders in the vehicle in which said braces are reciprocably mounted, pneumatlc means for elevating and lowering said' In witness whereof, I have her'nmto-` braces, means for locking the braces in their aiiixed my signature in the presence ofthe 10 levateld and loered positions, lincgicators witnesses herein named.

. or'iii icatin w et )encor not eaci race is Y locked in tsgelevat/ed or lowered position, ,i CLIFTON Lf DAUGHERTY" contact points between the cylinders :md Witnessesl' braces, and electrical conductors running V. H. LOCKWOOD, from said contact pointsto said indicators. Omvn -Bnnnnnm 

